Kiddy Grade  Recommended
Publisher
MVM
Director
Keiji Goto
Production
Fuji TV, GONZO
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
24 episodes
Year
2002
Kiddy Grade - Case 1: The Peacekeepers
By Adam Cook
17th Jun 04  Who comes up with names for anime? It is a baffling question at times as there often seems to be no connection between the name and content. Kiddy Grade instantly implies another anime that focuses on the lives of school children yet this series is far removed from that sort of anime. However the title does make a little more sense once you begin watching. Set far into the future, Kiddy Grade centres on the ES Force, a group of law enforcers that must keep and restore the piece. They work under the larger organisation of G.O.T.T (The Galactic Organisation of Trade and Tariffs) that was set up to settle economic friction and disputes among planets that belong to the Global Union. The best way of regarding the premise is seeing the Global Union as an intergalactic version of the UN and the G.O.T.T as the peace keepers. Eclair and Lumiere are at the centre of the ES Force and the entire series revolves around their exploits. Eclair is a wise cracking enthusiastic young woman that has special lipstick that doubles as a lasso and provides her with special powers when applied to her lips. Lumiere on the other hand is quiet and professional and can manipulate any electronic equipment within her range. They are followed on their travels by a Global Union auditor by the name of Armblast who is arguably one of the more intriguing characters in the series thus far with his allegiances not always being clear cut. I was a little unsure what to expect from this series, I had heard that it starts quite slowly and really only gets in to gear around episode eight and beyond. However I was greeted with the first three episodes that chuck you straight into the action and only provide very small snippets of background information on the characters and their organisation. Each episode is essentially a self contained story and I am always in two minds whether or not this is a benefit or a hindrance to anime series when they go down this route. Whilst it normally provides more brisk and exciting action as the stories are less ponderous it can also result in a reduction in character development and a lack of real dramatic tension. In the opening episodes at least, Kiddy Grade does not fall into either trap, yet the proof of its structure will only become evident as the series draws to a close. Whilst each episode is self contained there is room for the characters to develop, if only in minor ways thus far. The way the film makers have provided histories on the characters and the organisation has been handled deftly and the series gradually introduces more and more members of the ES Force as the series progresses which means the audience never gets bombarded by too many new and unfamiliar faces. Whilst there are other ES members to contend with, the series is definitely about Eclair and Lemiere as the vast majority of the action follows their travails. Although the action is frequent it is not always particularly exciting. The reasons for this are not that obvious as the choreography and general pacing of these set pieces are executed proficiently yet I think it falls down in terms of originality. Whilst some of the character designs are quite unique the actual sequences are reminiscent of many other films and series ranging from Star Wars to Charlie's Angels. In fact Charlie's Angels must be one of the biggest influences on the series as Kiddy Grade is essentially an intergalactic version of the popular crime fighting series and films. Kiddy Grade is incredibly kitsch with flamboyant characters and regular costume changes in order to disguise our heroes. Normally huge levels of kitsch turn me off yet this show still manages to tread the line between overt cheesiness and pure unadulterated entertainment successfully. It is difficult to really pin point why I enjoyed the opening few episodes of this series. It certainly doesn't have the best action nor is it particularly funny, yet I found myself warming to the characters and the generally high level of enthusiasm they have for their jobs. The animation is of a consistently high standard with bright and bold colours further accentuating the kitsch quality that runs through the series. On the DVD release we even still have the intermission screens which fit in perfectly with the mood. The musical score sounds a lot like an inferior John Williams score, and whilst it accompanies the on screen images well enough at times it can be too dominant and could have done with being used more sparingly. The Japanese voice actors all appear to be ideally suited to their characters, and thankfully even the English dub is bearable although still not the preferred option. The first disk in the series only contains the opening 3 episodes so it is still difficult to ascertain how the entire series will pan out. However it has started very encouragingly, the structure of the series appears to have found a successful compromise between character development and providing continual action. Plus the general style of the series is surprisingly entertaining; I only hope that it does not become irksome as the series progresses.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English 5.1 surround sound: Japanese 2.0 stereo sound: Image gallery: Character profiles: Promotional and original trailers: Textless song: Trailers
Release information: MVM
Notes: The image gallery and trailers are all standard on MVM releases now and whilst they are certainly better than no extras they don't provide any real substance to the package.
The character profiles are a little light and only focus on minimum information on seven of the series characters. I also found the text hard to read due to their choice of font.
The textless song is merely the opening theme without the credits. The J-pop theme tune is quite catchy yet I dont expect I will be listening to it again.
-- Adam Cook 17th Jun 04
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